Rome, the Greek World, and the East, Vol. 1 - The Roman Republic and the Augustan Revolution

 The Augustan Revolution

Nerva.^24 EquestrianofficialsalsomightwritetotheEmperor,asdidClassi-
cianusfromBritain,^25 orGaviusBassus,theprefectofthePonticshore(prae-
fectus orae Ponticae),fromBithynia.^26 Twopointsshouldbenotedaboutthis
correspondencebetweentheEmperorandimperialofficials.Firstly,itseems
very rarely to have been initiated by the Emperor; Trajan never commu-
nicated with Pliny in Bithynia except in response to letters from him. In
some cases where the actual correspondencewith the legate or procurator
wasbegunbytheEmperor,thiswasstimulatedbyacommunicationfrom
someothersourceintheprovince.TiberiuswrotetoPilatewhentheJews
hadwrittentohimabouttheshieldsbroughtintoJerusalem;^27 Gaius’first
lettertoPetroniusaboutthestatuewasprovokedbyaletterfromHerennius
Capito,theprocuratorofJamnia,aboutthe‘‘desecration’’ofanaltartohim
placedinthesynagoguetherebytheGreeks.^28 Butevenaprolongeddispute
in an imperial province might never be referred to the Emperor.The dis-
putebetweenthecollectorsofthetolls(portoria)andthecityof Histriain
Moesiaovertheboundariesofthecityterritory,whichproduceddocuments
datingfromtotheswhicharecollectedintheHorothesiainscription
of Laberius Maximus of..,^29 never reached any Emperor. Secondly,
almostourentireevidenceforthecorrespondencebetweentheEmperorand
officialsinimperialprovincescomesfromliterarysources.Asingleinscrip-
tionofthefirstcenturyreferstotheestablishmentofaboundaryatSagalas-
sosinGalatiabythelegateandprocuratoronthebasisofaletterfromNero.^30
Theearliestexampleofthetextofanimperiallettertoaprovinciallegate
inscribedbyacitydoesnotcomeuntil,theletterofSeverusandCara-
callatoOviniusTertullus,legateofMoesiaInferior,abouttheimmunityof
Tyra.^31 Thisfeatureoftheevidenceisnotaccidental;itrelatesdirectlytothe
fundamentaldistinctionoftypebetweenimperialandpublicprovinces.

. Pliny,NH,;Philostratus,VS,.
. Tac.,Ann.,,–.
. Pliny,Epp.,.
. Philo,Legatio–.
. Philo,Legatio–.
. AbbottandJohnson,no..ThedatesgivenherecomefromD.M.Pippidi,‘‘Das
StadtgebietvonHistriainrömischerZeitaufGrundderΟΡΟΘΕΣΙΑdesLaberiusMaxi-
mus(SEGI,),’’Dacia():Epigraphische Beiträge zur Geschichte Histrias in helle-
nistischer und römischer Zeit(), .The full version of both texts of the inscription is
published for the first time by J. H. Oliver, ‘‘Texts A and B of the Horothesia Dossierat
Istros,’’GRBS():.
. NewtextinAnatolian Studies():–SEGXIX,.
. AbbottandJohnson,no.FIRA^2 I,.